This invention relates generally to supports for steadying weapons during aiming, and more particularly to an articulated shooting stick for crossbows, rifles, shotguns and other weapons.
Crossbows, rifles, shotguns, and other weapons are heavy in nature. With their centers of mass located away from the shooter's body, they are typically difficult to hold steady and manipulate during aiming for consistent shot placement. The same holds true for cameras binoculars, telescopes, and other devices. This problem is exacerbated when hunting with crossbows or when the user must maintain a position for a long period of time until the prey is properly oriented and at an appropriate distance for photographing, observing, shooting, and so on.
The prior art includes a plurality of apparatuses for steadying portable devices which are to be aimed by a user. For example, tripods are commonly used to steady cameras or telescopes. In many situations, tripods function admirably for this purpose. However, although many tripods are portable, setting a tripod up and taking it down often takes too much time for the user, can be difficult to transport efficiently, and may be too bulky to set up in a tree stand. Some prior art solutions suggest relieving some of this bulkiness by providing a support stick that rest against a user at one end and support a crossbow, firearm or other device at the other end. Such devices are typically inflexible, in that there is no mechanism for allowing precise positioning and control of the crossbow, firearm, or other device with the user's fine motor control. Thus, when it is desirous to take aim at potential game or a distant target, and follow the target as it moves within the field of view and possibly closer to and/or further away from the user, prior art support sticks fall short.
Moreover, when using a crossbow for example, the safety of the user may become compromised due to the orientation of the crossbow stock and the fingers of the user during firing. The crossbow stock naturally forces the user to orient his or her fingers upwards, which may interfere with the crossbow string during release of the bolt and lead to serious injury.
It would therefore be desirous to provide a support stick that overcomes at least one or more disadvantages of the prior art. It would further be desirous to provide a allows a user to hold a weapon or other device in an aiming stance while preserving the user's strength and allowing the user to fine tune a potential shot or image by manipulating the support stick with the user's fine motor control.